The Tournament
by LadyDeathwish
Summary: My first real novel attempt. I started writing this like a year ago and now I've started writing again! Now there's more than 10 chapters, Enjoy![Update] Wow, it's been three or so years now... Anyways, next five or so chapters are up, I hope you enjoy th
1. The beginning...

The journal of Kyla Mason, Monday, June 15th, 2319.  
  
It gets very dark on Europa during the winter months. I went with my parents and older brother for the first time to the mining camps, and we had to use old-fashioned flashlights to find our way. Our parents work at the mining camps, and my brother is planning to work there when he turns 17. We searched our way down into the boiler room, where our parents wanted to show us how they got power without using the nearly ancient way of burning fossil fuels to get electricity, when they attacked.  
  
They were a group of Necris bandits, each with mysterious tattoos on their arms, and heavy weaponry of which I have never seen the likes of before. They were asking where we kept all the Tarydium, which made sense because on their world it is exceedingly valuable. My parents didn't answer, and paid for it, big time.  
  
I almost went psychotic at the sight of my parents dying. I would have gone in there and fought back any way I could, but I was stopped. One of them put his gun in my face. My brother just had to play hero. He was shredded by another bandit's machinegun.  
  
I went in to try to help him out, but one of them got me in to a headlock and I felt his gun in my back. He asked me where the Tarydium was kept, and I simply answered, "I don't know." I heard his gun wind up, but one of his comrades, I assume he was the leader, told him that I didn't know anything. As soon as I felt his grip loosen around my neck and saw the leader's back turn away, I flipped him over my head.  
  
It was a move I had learned in self-defense class a week before. I then stepped on his neck with my foot and put all my weight into it. The leader had already turned a corner, so he didn't see me. I held my foot in place until he went limp. He didn't shoot me because he was trying to get me off. The leader came back and saw me holding the guy's gun and him limp on the floor, and he looked almost scared.   
  
That was four years back.  
  
I'm 17 now, with a new life and foster parents that love me, and I live on Earth, away from Europa. I go to a high school where I have lots of friends and a boyfriend that I think I should dump because he always leaves for about a week at a time, without giving me any notice beforehand. It's really odd, but I haven't said a word about it to him or anyone else.  
  
My boyfriend's name is Kent Liandri, his father is the founder of Liandri Corp. It is also rumored at my school that Kent's father was the one who came up for the idea for the Tournament, a bloody test of skill in an arena where there is a good chance you won't walk out. I personally think it is a stupid excuse for the New Earth government to make money. But, if offered, I don't know if I would say yes or no to the tournament. Even if there is a good chance I won't walk out. I think you have to be 18 to get in anyways.  
  
It's just 5 days before my eighteenth birthday.  
  
  
Wednesday, June 17, 2319.  
  
I spoke to Kent today about the tourney, as everyone calls it. He said that certain entrants are given a respawning device that teleports you to another area of the arena the instant before death, but with none of your weapons or armor. Just your Enforcer, Impact Hammer, and Translocator.  
  
"What's a Translocator?" I asked him. He said that it was a better version of the respawning device, which lets you keep all your stuff. But, if it is damaged even the slightest by an enemy, teleporting to it could kill you before your respawning device could kick in. He also spoke about a Redeemer that was a miniature nuclear warhead that could take out anything within a 15-foot radius. I was having some second thoughts about badmouthing the tourney; this actually sounded kinda fun.  
  
I also talked to Jayce Carter today, my best friend. She was happy about something, though not about stealing my boyfriend, but about the tourney. She said that she was going to get in as a trainer until she was eighteen. I told her that was great and that I was thinking about it too, but hearing this made her worry. "What if we end up fighting each other? Kyla, I don't want it to come to that. I would have to hurt you, and vice versa. I would hate myself for the rest of my life!" Jayce all of a sudden wasn't so upbeat anymore. And not seeing her happy always made me unhappy.  
  
Plus, it got me thinking.  
  
I talked to my parents tonight before bed about the tourney, and my foster-father threatened that he would 'tie me to the post of my bunkbed for the rest of my life'. My mom freaked and actually got down on her knees and begged me not to join! I told her that I was only considering it and that I would be fine if I were to sign up. That wasn't enough to console her, so we sat down on the couch and I let her cry on my shoulder for half an hour; all the while telling her about all the wonderful things Kent told me about it. I could tell she was still worried when we got up, but at least she wasn't crying anymore. I hate it when she cries.  
  
I thought about it a little more tonight. After talking to Kent I wanted in. Badly, it seemed. But, after hearing Jayce worry about hurting me or myself hurting her, and my mother's sobs against my still-wet nightshirt, I almost reconsidered. I then decided that I think too much.  
  
  
Saturday, June 20th, 2319.  
  
It was the morning of my eighteenth birthday when it came. Actually, it was already at my doorstep before I even woke up, and I'm normally the first one to wake up in my house.  
  
It was a computer console, with an introductory letter. It was offering me a place in the tournament.  
  
I briefly looked it over, and found a small button at the bottom of the screen. I pressed it, and the screen flickered, but only for a moment, then it showed me the details of my first battle. If I joined, that is.  
  
Without thinking it over much more, I went back to the screen with the introductory letter. It had a thumb scanner there. I put my thumb on it, satisfied that the console was sending a signal to tourney headquarters telling them that I, Kyla Mason, wanted in.  
  
"You did WHAT!?" My mother almost spat out all the food in her mouth at the dinner table tonight. I didn't show that I was surprised by this outburst, because for me, at least, it wasn't a surprise.  
  
"I signed up for the tourney this morning," I calmly answered. My younger brother (not biologically, but legally) stared at me like I was a poltergeist. I didn't know how long my act of innocence could keep up.  
  
"You're crazy! What the hell to you take us for girl, fools?" My father wasn't impressed.  
  
"Weren't you the one's who told me that I was independent? That I could make my own choices? Well, I have made a choice here, and if you don't like it, tough!" I blew it.  
  
"But we're your parents, girl, p-a-r-e-n-t-s!" My mother tried to reason.  
  
"Not biologically, my real parents died four years ago on an ice/Tarydium covered rock orbiting Jupiter! Look, you guys said that I was capable of making my own choices, and you may not like it, but I have decided. I have CHOSEN to join the tourney. I got all the information I need from Kent, and this console."   
  
I showed them the console that had arrived this morning. "There is no way that I will die or anything if I'm careful, and I have all the info I need to be careful. I'll be fine. You'll soon be betting on me in matches. You'll all see." I let out a small sigh after making sure everyone had stopped staring.  
  
I was in. 


	2. Oblivion, and Blake

Being a new member of the tourney, I was given an apartment of my own near Liandri Headquarters. It was a nice, but small, but still nice. It had a small crescent-moon shaped balcony overlooking the busy streets of the megacity below, with some nice red curtains to have my privacy. It also had a red rug, and red bedsheets on the bed near the balcony. Why red....?  
  
As I was walking down the halls earlier looking for my designated room, I saw into the apartment of a person who had left their door open for the maid. His or her stuff was all blue... And another person's room was all green.   
  
This was confusing.  
  
No matter, I had a shuttle to board and a match to think about.  
  
* * * * *  
I had to board the shuttle Oblivion to the Stalwart facility on Kronos, a planet far away in the Alpha Centauri solar system. Apparently, I was accompanied by another tourney entrant, Blake.  
  
During the seemingly endless ride via hyperspace, the pilots looked to each other, then set the ship for autopilot.  
  
"Here, take these," the co-pilot gave myself and Blake an Impact Hammer and a single Enforcer each.  
  
"What the heck? I wasn't told that we would have to fight! What's going on?" I panicked as the pilot started fixing spawn locations for various weapons and items.  
  
"You two are to fight each other to determine who gets to participate in the Stalwart arena. The first to get ten frags wins, the loser gets shipped back home." The co-pilot answered. "Good luck to you both, the world is watching."  
  
Blake started admiring his Enforcer, while I was trying to figure out how to hold the stupid thing. I wasn't told we would have to fight...  
  
Blake then dissapeared and I got a weird feeling in my stomach. I was being teleported to a random spot on the ship! I later found out that he had been teleported, too, but I had to take his head off with a Flak Cannon.  
  
When he respawned I heard a yell, then he charged mindlessly towards where he had died. But I was waiting, with my Rocket Launcher ready to paint the walls with him. Boom.  
  
I then realized that the co-pilot of the ship hadn't given me a respawning device. I panicked, and looked for some health kits, only to find Blake standing there waiting for me.  
  
"Hey Kyla, looking for this?" He said, and he held up a mini-supercomputer, which looked like it could attach itself to someone's arm. My respawning device!  
  
"Yes, actually. Can I have it now, or do I have to take it from you?" Blake started laughing. He threw it onto the ground and stepped on it, breaking it into a million pieces. I returned the favour by shooting a flak grenade from my new favourite weapon at him.  
  
"You like that?" I shouted as I heard him get closer. "C'mere and you can have some more."  
  
Three frags for me, no wait, now four, dead again, haha Blake, now five. I was racking up the points, while he was charging towards where the Flak Cannon teleported in so he could try to kill me with that.  
  
After I had scored eight times, he came up behind me and put me in a headlock, with a Rocket Launcher in my back. Bad idea Blake, you don't know me as well as you think you do...  
  
I flipped him over my head and he shot at the roof, hitting me with splash damage. I then fed a few bullets from my Enforcer into his chest. Score. Nine frags for Kyla, zip for Blake.  
  
"And stay down!" I shouted at his bloody corpse. Wait, was there supposed to BE a corpse? Did I kill him for real? I looked at my surroundings. There were red splotches on the walls here and there, and Blake body bits lying everywhere. I counted 6 lungs, 7 hearts and about 5 spleens...  
  
Blake came up from behind me with his gun again, but this time he took my gun right out of my hands and put his Enforcer in my back. "Say goodbye, Kyla. This match is mine." He gloated. Oh, but you haven't won yet, Mr. Conceited...  
  
I dropped to the floor and tripped him before he could get a shot off. I then picked up my own gun and kicked his right out of his hands. "It's back to the tutourial for you, Blake." was the last thing I let him hear me say. I then put a Shock Rifle blast where his head used to be.  
  
I had won my first match. Now it just gets harder... 


	3. The Stalwart arena, and Kryss...

Oblivion arrived at the Stalwart facility at 1:30 in the morning EST on Earth.. The other participants, whom I found out to be Calameth, a big fat meanie, and Kryss, a Necris chick, were already there. The pilot and co-pilot of Oblivion went and set up, giving me and the others a few more minutes rest before being launched into battle. They then figured that, since everyone was there, that we would start right away. Groggy and reluctantly, I took my Enforcer and respawning device from the pilot.  
  
I got that weird feeling in my stomach again.  
  
I found myself to be in a rusted storage bay, there were dark brown crates everywhere and there was a large door infront of me, and there were windows in the wall beside. There were these little cone-thingys on the ground, made out of rubber, I found out. I looked through the windows and I saw an old-fashioned car, retrofitted with xenon gas burning engies on the underbelly of it, I assume. I noticed some red storage things behind the car, and they had drawers in them.  
  
Someone grazed my back with a Flak Cannon.  
  
I turned to see who it was, finding out that it was Kryss. I held out my Enforcer and pulled the trigger, but she killed me with a better-aimed burst of flak the milisecond before.  
  
Kryss was mine.  
  
I respawned in a room with more crates and storage crap. I quickly found a Shock Rifle nearby, and picked it up. I walked slowly down a hallway, making sure no one could hear my footsteps. I heard Kryss's death scream in the distance and slowly made my way there. I found the Flak Cannon on the way, so I picked it up and used that. I turned a corner and I was face-to-face with Calameth.  
  
I let out a flak burst in his chest before he could get a shot off.  
  
"You suck!" I yelled at his motionless former self.  
  
I searched around for a little, fragging Kryss and Calameth left and right. I finally found the area I had entered the match in, and there was a gun beside the rubber cone things I hadn't noticed before.  
  
It was beautiful.  
  
I picked it up and some green plasma packs to go with it.It had a nozzle like a machinegun, but when I fired it it would let out small bursts of plasma. I found an alternate trigger and pulled it, noting the green beam it emitted when doing so. I decided to call it the Plasma Rifle.  
  
I held out my new weapon, and fragged Kryss, who had just turned a corner.  
  
"Die!" I shouted.  
  
Hearing my yell, Calameth found my location and tried to kill me with his Enforcer, but failed miserably. "And stay down!" was my response.  
  
This is easier than I had previously thought.  
  
When I had 14 frags, Kryss had 14 frags, and Calameth had barely 5, Kryss decided that she and I used had-to-hand combat to decide the winner. The reason why I use the word "decided" is because I really had no choice in the matter.  
  
"Bring it on!" She said while throwing her weapon down.  
  
I got my fists up, ready to duke it out with her, but she tripped me onto the ground. She grinned mischeviously down at me as she put her foot on my neck.  
  
For a moment I gave up.  
  
Regardless of the pain I felt, I grabbed her other foot and made her lose her balance long enough so I could get up. I let out a few snap kicks to the stomach. She caught my foot on the third. I then used my other foot to kick her in the face. I landed with a thud. She landed with a broken nose.  
  
I got up and waited for her to stand.  
  
She got up and threw a few punches to my stomach. I tightened my muscles in my stomach so I felt nothing. I high-kicked her in the face. She returned with a few potshots to my shins. It hurt like hell. I then grabbed onto her shoulder pads and flipped over her head. I kicked her in the center of her spine. She fell flat on her face. She got up quickly.  
  
She ran torwards some medkits.  
  
I caught up with her, then lept forward and grabbed onto her right foot. She fell flat on her face. She quickly turned over so she was lying on her back. I lept to my feet and put my foot on her neck, pressing down hard. She tried to trip me like I had done her in the same situation only a few minutes earlier, but failed. She eventually went limp.  
  
"Medic!" I shouted. Calameth came running, and so did the pilot and co-pilot. We knelt down and stared at her body. I was the first to notice that her respawning device wasn't on her shoulder.  
  
"Right here," Kryss said groggily. She glared at me for a moment, then let the pilot look at her device, which had malfunctioned while she and I were fighting. She had huge cuts in her arms.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Later on, when we were leaving, Kryss passed me while boarding her ship. I heard her mutter, "I was supposed to win."  
  
Fractal, here I come! 


	4. Luthienne

Who the heck is Luthienne? I asked myself when I spawned into the Fractal arena. Boy, I found out pretty fast. She was in a yellow outfit with cherry blonde hair. The reason why I use the word "was" is because she launched a Rocket at me before I could say "hi".  
  
I heard her yell, "And stay down!" when I respawned. Oh no you don't, that's my line!  
  
I quickly jumped down from the catwalk I was on, only for a hatch in the floor to open underneath me. Luckily, I managed to get away from it in one piece. I picked up a Shock Rifle and waited for her to jump down with me. All she was doing was shooting rockets down at me and cursing when I dodged the slow-moving missiles.  
  
She finally gave up and jumped down with me, only to have her head splattered against the wall behind her, due to my Shock Rifle's primary fire. I heard her yell when she respawned.  
  
I picked up her Rocket Launcher, which had 34 rockets left in the loader. While I was chasing Luthienne with the crosshair while she was darting around on the upper levels, the crosshair turned red all of a sudden and I heard a beep come from my new gun. I shot a rocket and watched it chase Luthienne. Some sorta guided rocket...?  
  
I fragged her about 7 times while she was on the upper catwalk using the guided rocket thing, then she decided to come down again. The floor opened underneath her.  
  
I heard her yell, "Oh crap no!!!" while she was being torn to pieces by the reactor thingy in the floor. All because she wanted that shield belt. Ouch.  
  
I then decided it wasn't worth it going after the belt.  
  
She came down once more, but making sure she landed where the Shock Rifle spawned. She shot at me, but not necessarily hitting me. I launched an auto-guided rocket at her, but she hid behind a pillar and it hit the pillar instead of her. I gave up and loaded a spray of six rockets and launched them all at her hiding spot. She made some damn nice fireworks.  
  
9 for Kyla, and only 1 for Luthienne, I muttered when she started hiding up on the catwalks again. I found a section in the floor that looked like it was rigged to be an elevator. I stepped on it, and sure enough, it took me up. Face to face with Luthienne herself. I killed her with my Shock Rifle before she got a rocket off. Score.  
  
Just 5 more frags and I win.  
  
She tried jumping down for the sacred Shield Belt again, only for the floor to open underneath her once more. Boy, that has to hurt...  
  
Luthienne swore when she respawned, but I don't wanna repeat what she said.  
  
She jumped down for the Shield Belt AGAIN, but I got to it first. She was pissed, and I was happy that she was.  
  
She picked up the Shock Rifle quickly and grazed my left arm with the primary fire. I quickly switched to the Shock Rifle aswell, and I let out a ball of plasma due to the secondary fire. I shot at her with the primary fire just before the ball of plasma hit her. I don't know how I did it, but Luthienne went boom.  
  
The words "4 more frags" crossed my mind. I took the elevator up for a health kit, but Luthienne was waiting with a Rocket Launcher ready to paint the walls with me. She fired, but I dodged and was hit by splash damage. I let her have it with my Shock Rifle.  
  
"Too easy!" I taunted. She respawned infront of me and shot my right shoulder untill it looked like swiss cheese, all the while I was locking onto her with my Rocket Launcher. Luthienne went boom once more.  
  
No more games, I said to myself. Luckily, she respawned on the other side of the circular catwalk. I grabbed a nearby medkit and used gauss pads and crap to cover the gaps in my right shoulder, and I also used a fairly large piece of cloth, some disinfectant, and some white tape, all of which I found in that little box with the red cross on the lid. My family must be in shock, I thought to myself, my shoulder is shot to shit, I have a huge burn on my left arm...  
  
Luthienne found where I was leaning against the wall tending to my wounds, and shot me in my foot. And now I have a bullet in my foot...  
  
I returned the favour with a well-aimed Shock Rifle blast.  
  
I got up after going through another medkit's gauss pads and pain killers, and I managed to spread Luthienne all over the wall near the elevator. I poked my finger in the bloody mess of, well, blood, and I made the words 'You suck' in that grotesque mass of red.  
  
I killed her two more times and won the match. Some Tournament people strapped me down to a stretcher so they could look at my poorly dressed wounds. I wasn't going to fight for a while...  
  
They rescheduled my next fight to be on the weekend. 


	5. Nothing left...

Out for a week? I said to myself as I lay down on my bed. If I had just let her kill me I would've respawned in tip top shape, but I had to win.  
  
I decided to call my foster parents.  
  
I walked over to the other side of the room and activated the Vision Link console. When it asked who I wanted to call, I said, "Home." The screen flickered, then the word "Connecting" went across the screen. After I saw the word 'Connecting' pass by about 20 times, the screen flashed red, saying, "Could not connect your call. Reason: Registry number no longer exists."  
  
"What the heck?" I muttered. I tried it again, but to no avail. I tried about 3 times more before accepting the fact that my call wouldn't go through.  
  
I walked over to my door and banged on it hard. "Maida! Get your butt in here! I need to prep a shuttle to go to Vilandra!" Vilandra, of course, being my hometown. The maid came in and gave me a computer console to sign.  
  
I was on my way to Vilandra.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What the heck happened here?" I groaned as I banged on the door of my parents home. No one answered me. And I had been banging on the door for over two hours.  
  
I finally gave up and placed my thumb on the scanner.  
  
The metal door opened with a swish, revealing my old home. No one was there. And the place was trashed.  
  
I feared the worst.  
  
I ran in, yelling mom's name and turning furniture upright here and there with my one good arm.  
  
I then ran into my foster brother's room, noting the large spraypainted symbol on the wall. I searched his dresser, only to find that most of his clothes were missing. I found out the same with mom and dad's room. There was a large symbol on a wall in there too.  
  
I looked at the symbol a little more, my faint memory of my last day on Europa swimming it's way into my head.  
  
It was the exact same symbol I had seen on the arm of that raider!  
  
I screamed. I cried. I did both. For a whole day, I think.  
  
I then gave up, realizing that grieving for them wouldn't bring them back.  
  
I went into my old room, where I had kept my antique stereo and these things that looked like oversized vid disks called CDs. My CD's were in pieces and there were bulletholes in the walls. The stereo, thankfully, was in one piece. Tears streaming down my face, I gathered it and some other things and put them on my shuttle.  
  
"Back to the apartment," I said to the pilot, making sure he didn't see my tear-stained face.  
  
I have nothing left. Nothing left at all. 


	6. Back in the game

After my week of agony, I was allowed to fight once more. But this time, I had to fight against four opponents. Lexington, Cali, Annaka, and Slain were my opponents. Only, like in the Stalwart match, they'll fight each other and not just me.  
  
I warped in, and Cali warped in not far from me. She quickly found the Shock Rifle and tried to kill me with that. I shot her in the head, and she fell dead. That kinda rhymes, too.  
  
I found some ramps leading up, so I decided to take them to see what was up there. I heard the death scream of two people, and realized that I was in for a fight. I continued up the ramps and found Lexington camping up there, holding a minigun.  
  
"You're mine, Kyla," He said, then I heard the gun wind up. I drop-kicked it out of his hands. I picked it up, and turned his head into a lovely piece of artwork on the dark wall behind him. Like I had done when fighting Luthienne, I scribbled the words "You suck" in that mass of red goo.  
  
When I got down from where I had fragged Lexington, I found Slain and Annaka fighting each other. Annaka had the Pulse Gun, and Slain had a yellow glow around him and the Flak Cannon. I turned Annaka into a leaky piece of meat, but Slain shot me in the back. I respawned, angry and frustrated, and found my own Flak Cannon on a curved bridge.  
  
I heard fighting in the distance, and knew I had to get in there to fast to steal the lead. Fragging Annaka and Cali on the way, I found where Slain was camping.  
  
He shot first, but barely grazed my side. I let him have it with a Flak Grenade, and his Shield Belt must have been low or something because the yellow glow dissapeared in one shot. I shot at him with the primary fire of my F.C, but he was barely grazed by it.  
  
He got close to me and pulled the trigger on his F.C, but he was out of ammo. He quickly switched to the Plasma Rifle but I fragged him before he got a single shot off. I picked up his Plasma Rifle and checked the ammo gauge. 132, perfect.  
  
I found Cali and Lexington fighting with their Enforcers, and I gave Lexington the full-force of the secondary fire on my Plasma Rifle, then I picked up his Enforcer, using my left-hand to fire it.  
  
It felt awkward using my left hand for something, especially when my right was my dominant hand. My Plasma Rifle had run out of ammo, so I had no choice. But, Cali eventually gave up the ghost, even with my poorly aimed shots.   
  
I took my own Enforcer out, and used it and the one I had picked up to fill everyone with holes. I heard the words, "Squeal, boy, squeal!" in the distance. I knew it was Cali.  
  
I had just one frag to go to win the match, so I found some ammuntition at the top of the ramps I had found earlier, and stuffed my two Enforcers untill they couldn't hold anymore.  
  
I heard Annaka's scream in the distance. Cali had found the shield belt for sure.  
  
Annaka spawned right beside me, but she didn't bother shooting me. I figure it was because she wanted to take down Cali. I didn't bother shooting Annaka, because I knew that if Cali were even to kill Annaka once more she wouldn't win with what I had planned.  
  
I pressed my back against the walls of the arena when I could, making sure my footsteps couldn't be heard. I took out my F.C when I spotted Cali.  
  
Cali's shield belt didn't even flicker when Annaka used the Ripper and shot at Cali's neck. The words "You like that?" came from Cali as she kicked at Annaka's former self.  
  
Nearby I found a Sniper Rifle and zoomed to 2.3 with the computerized scope. I landed a headshot on Cali, and won the match.  
  
"Too easy!" was what I said last. 


	7. My first Phayder...

Codex, that's the name of the arena I'm in right now. I have three opponents; Kragoth, some weird Necris freak, Visse, a Necris Blademaiden chick, and Arkoth 24, some loser psycho dude with a funky name...  
  
"I'm sorry, did I just blow your head apart?" I heard Visse's voice nearby.  
  
I went and I fragged her with my Minigun which I had found near some green water. "And stay down!" I yelled at her former self, but I spoke too soon, for Arkoth came up behind me and fragged me with the Plasma Rifle. Freak...  
  
I quickly found the Sniper Rifle and landed a nice shot in Kragoth's forehead. "Medic!" I taunted, as if I were some mean drill sergeant.  
  
I went up to his body to pick up his F.C, and I noticed some sorta black marking on his skin. "What the heck..."  
  
The marking looked like it continued underneath his left shoulder pad, and I'm not normally one to poke at people after I frag them, but this once I did. I lifted up his shoulder pad and...  
  
I jumped back, choking on my sobs. His tatoo was the same as I had seen at my old home, and back on Europa. I had heard that he was a known member of those Phayder people, and realized in that instant that they were the ones who had killed both my families.  
  
They were the ones responsible. They're gonna pay...  
  
I found Kragoth again. I gibbed his left leg off then got close enough to him that I ripped off his respawning device.  
  
"What the heck are you doing, Kyla!?" he freaked out.  
  
"You're one of them..." I said before letting him have it with my F.C.  
  
I then quickly crushed the respawning device with my heel, making sure no one was looking.  
  
I proceeded to frag Arkoth 24 and Visse untill I had won.  
  
The Tournament co-ordinaters went up to Kragoth's body, realizing he hadn't respawned at all. They quickly glanced at his arm where his respawning device was supposed to be, then noticed the pile of metal on the floor nearby.  
  
Then they stared at me.  
  
"Pure accident," I said innocently, "I didn't know that his respawning device had fallen off."  
  
They bought it, and proceeded to place Kragoth's body on a stretcher and carry it back to the shuttle.  
  
I had killed my first Phayder. 


	8. Interlude

Prior to the Tempest match 

I wearily looked around at my surroundings. _Everything's so hazy, hey, is that footsteps? I don't think I'm alone anymore... So cold..._

"Are you ready?" a voice said. _Who are you? Where am I?_

"Yessir." I replied. _I think the voice means the match. I guess I am. Why am I here?_

"Good. You have endured hard training but you've had few defeats to come this far. I expect only the best from you."

"Yessir." _I want to go home..._

"Someone familiar to you, someone you may know will be in this next match. A high-scoring terror, she is. I expect you to treat this Mason figure the same way you treat everyone else; with utmost scrutiny."

_Mason? Kyla Mason? Who is that? Do I know a Kyla Mason? I have a headache. Let me go home, sir. Please, just let me go home. I don't want to fight anymore. I don't want to hurt anyone else._

"Oh, and Jayce?" _Jayce, who's that? Is that me? I think he means me. What does he want now?_

"Yessir?" _Please sir, just let me go home._

"Make this 'Lady Deathwish' figure wish she never met you."

"Yessir."

_But I don't want to hurt anyone anymore..._

fade to black 


	9. Watch your hands, moron

Exactly four hours before my next match in the Galleon arena, someone decided to pound on my apartment door. It was a guy, and he was calling my name. _Please be Kent..._

"Hello? You there Kyla?" the voice beckoned.

"J-Just a minute!" I called nervously. _What if it really is Kent? Do I look alright? Damn, I have a hair sticking up... There, all better. Okay, here I go..._

I lighty pressed my hand on the panel near my door, it opening with a metalic swish. It wasn't Kent, no, instead it was some guy in a green outfit who looked like he hadn't shaved in a week.

"Can I come in? Oh yeah, I'm Fuego." he said.

"Come right on in," I said invitingly. What was I supposed to do? Turn him down? After all, he's kinda cute...

He walked in, taking a look around while muttering to himself. "I came to tell you something, Kyla," Fuego stated. "I came to tell you about your friend, Jayce..." _The hell...?_

"Go on." I said as I walked across the room and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Well, you see, she's in the match on Galleon with you and myself. I had heard rumours that she's your best friend... Of course, this could be a different Jayce, but you never know..." He came and sat on my bed beside me.

"Hmm... Well, thanks for message..." I muttered, looking down at my hands.

"Say, if you're not doing anything after the match maybe..."

I swear to God Himself that this guy was trying to feel me up. "I'm sorry, but I don't have the time. Some other time, maybe?"

Fuego moaned. "Okay. No hard feelings if I own you in the match, okay?"

"Sure, though I think it'll be vice-versa."

Fuego laughed. "Whatever you say..." He then got up and left. Fuego turned to ask me something else, but I quickly plastered a fake smile on my face, and he was just as quickly turned off the idea. He continued out of my room. I let out a huge sigh, then got up and locked my door. Creep...

I spawned down onto a huge ship from the shuttle we took to the arena, fragging Fuego with worldspawn. _Ops..._

I had apparently spawned on the main deck of the ship, and quickly found a cabin of some sort, containing a small room with a ramp going down in the center of it. _Who the hell thought that fire was a good idea? It's so damn dark... And on a wooden ship? C'mon..._

I continued down the ramp and came face-to-face with some chick who had a metal mask and red hair. She was holding the Ripper, but I had to pump her full of lead and take her gun. She respawned nearby and ran up to me and tried the rip off my arm. _The hell...?_

After I fragged her once more, I went and found Fuego again. He let out a wide spray of lead from the Minigun's secondary fire, but I ducked as he continued to fire uncontrollably. I shot off his foot and then dodged my own Ripper blade. When he was on the ground I let him have it with the secondary fire, then took his gun.

Then I heard someone respawn behind me. "Do you know who killed Flabeline Xion?" Fuego whispered in my ear. "I did." he continued, and ripped my respawning device off my arm and stepped on it with a loud crunch.

I spotted someone on the other side of the ship who had just dissapeared around a corner. Rath.

Quickly, I shouted "Come get some, Rath!" and managed to get behind Fuego. Rath came back around the corner and shot without aiming, landed a nice Shock Rifle blast in Fuego's chest. Needless to say, I then turned Rath into a leaky piece of meat.

A feminine voice caught my attention instantly. I had heard it on the upper deck, it said "Die!" and I watched as Vanessa, the phsyco who tried to tear my arm off, respawn below me.

Jayce.


	10. Pillowfights and men

I heard an F.C being fired above me, then saw Rath dart past me, taking the Ripper on the way to the main deck. Jayce was on a killing spree, and I had to hurry to catch up.

I looked down at the lowest part of the ship, noticing an F.C warp in below me on some boxes. Carefully, I jumped down and grabbed it, then went and got myself some ammo for it. It took a short search of the bottom level to find an elevator of some sort and took that up.

Time wasn't on my side. I scurried up to the main deck, taking out Vanessa again on my way. Jayce, whether it was the Jayce I had known for five years or not, was on a killing spree and I had to catch up.

I had to win.

It was like a need now, to be the one with the most frags. A temptation so strong it could not be ignored. It was like an addiction.

No, it _was_ an addiction.

I hurried over to where I had heard the gunshots before, and I saw the back of a woman in a red metal suit putting the finishing touches on Rath.

"Squeal boy, squeal!" she taunted, but wait; her voice was deeper than the high pitched hum of Jayce Carter. My Jayce Carter.

Jayce spun around as quick as lighting when she became aware of me. She let out a burst of flak while jumping in the air so that I missed when I shot my F.C. Jayce landed with a small thud on her stomach and, through the burning pain I felt on my face, I managed to let out a flak grenade that painted the walls with my foe.

I killed the leader, but I still needed to catch up.

I finished up the match by fragging Jayce and everyone a few more times. We all shook hands in the aftermath, but I was a little more than reluctant to shake Fuego's or Vanessa's. Fuego because he was just freaky, and Vanessa because I didn't want her to try ripping my arm off again. Oddly enough, I noticed some coordinators scraping up our blood, as if cleaning up the place for whomever owned it.

When I got back to my appartment I flopped down on my bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about my life before the tourney. Jayce and I had been more than the best of friends. We shared secrets and gossiped and did all that girlish stuff together. We held a sleepover party every other weekend at either my house or hers with just the two of us. We would have the wildest pillowfights and would toast all the events of the weeks before.

_But what now?_

It was rather depressing that Jayce wasn't _my_ Jayce Carter, but what would we have said to one another? What would we have done if the coordinators of the Tournament put us together? Would Jayce have been addicted to the smell of others blood and shot me without a second thought, as I might have done? Would Jayce stand over my body after fragging me and gloat?

There was just way too many questions and not enough answers.

But what if Jayce hadn't changed? Would we have a pillowfight? Would we gossip about guys in the tourney with us? Would we toast our victories and the coordinators of this sick sport?

The thing that bothered me most of all, was that I didn't know.


	11. Jayce?

The ride in the shuttle was a slow boring one, and all I had to really do was take in oxygen and sit in my assigned room. Another thing about the tourney is that they keep you apart on the way there to prevent fights, or, heck, even getting to know another entrant a little.

We finally stopped and got out. Tempest, above old New York City and a personal training arena for Xan Kriegor himself (or herself, since no one really knew what gender 'it' is), was the arena I would fight in, with more than enough opponents; Tajheri, Gilfred, Anna, Darhl, and Damascus.

I spawned in and quickly found the Minigun and some ammo. After I turned Anna into a leaky piece of meat, took her Enforcer, and got down from wherever the hell I warped in, I started to hear gunfire and explosions like a war had just started.

In a few minutes, it all stopped. Silence. Then a girl said, "And stay down!"

I recognised the voice from my past in Vilandra but I couldn't quite place it with any nearly forgotten face.

I ran, well, jogged a bit pausing only once to take out Gilfred. I found a large room with some armour on the floor, so I slipped the thing on and someone shot the floor behind me with a rocket launcher, thus, making me fly a little ways. I did a 180 right then and there firing my minigun like mad. Finally Darhl croaked and coughed up his rocket launcher while he was at it, so I picked it up and stored it for safe keeping.

I continued onward, fragging everyone left and right, but I hadn't met up with this Tajheri person yet.

Finally I saw the back of a woman in a yellow uniform much like my plain brownish-grey one. She had jet black hair that went down past her shoulders and...

And she tucked some hair back behind her right ear in an almost automatic gesture that I could've sworn I had seen before. _Could it be...?_

The girl, whom I assume to be Tajheri, suddenly became alert and splattered Damascus all over the walls on the other side of the room with her rocket launcher. "Die!" escaped her lips and I was convinced I knew her from somewhere.

"S'cuse me," I finally said, "but have you seen anybody with jet black hair kinda like yours, a yellow outfit on, and holds a Rocket Launcher just like you are right now?" The girl froze and slowly spun around, and I almost died of a heart attack on the spot. "J-Jayce?"

"That's the name, don't wear it out!" Jayce said in that high-pitched hyper voice of hers. "Wha'cha been up to lately, Kyla? The usual?"

"Yeah, sorta. What brings you to this dark and gloomy place?" I asked her casually.

"The usual..." Jayce said, then let lose six of those bouncy grenades on me.


	12. Horrible accident

I respawned in a short hallway and was forced to feed Anna a few bullets from my Enforcer. I found my way back to the room I had found Jayce in, but she wasn't there, or so I thought.

She jumped down from wherever she was hiding, shooting her precious Rocket Launcher on the way down (she had the extra damage thingy, figures). I died, respawned, and decided to take a more cautious approach. I found a Plasma Rifle and the Shield Belt scoring myself a few frags on the way.

This time I wandered into the room slowly and via a different entrance. She wasn't there again, but I wasn't going to fall for that once more. I looked up and spotted Jayce waiting for me with her feet on a couple pipes and stuff. I let loose a great flurry of green and fragged Jayce at last. I caught her on the way to where the Anti-Grav boots spawned in and caught her going after them. She ate green beam. 'Nuff said.

I wandered the facility a little more, taking out a couple more people when I finally found Jayce again. She had just taken down Gilfred.

"Why did you frag me, Kyla?" she said as innocently as humanly possible, but I didn't fall for it. She tried to pull a Ripper on me, but I smacked it out of her hand.

"Payback. Payback for fragging _me_ those two times." I answered gruffly.

"Yeah, well, all is fair in love," she paused, taking out an F.C I didn't notice right away "and war..."

Jayce aimed for my chest, but what remained of my Shield Belt absorbed the damage. I shot up Jayce with a lot of strafing and about 98 bullets. She fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. When I bent down to pick up her F.C, I noticed a few things unusual about her. Things I didn't remember.

She had dark circles around her eyes probably from training really hard, and a tatoo on her belly I hadn't paid attention to while fighting her. Her hair was grown out to shoulder-length instead of cut short like I had remembered.

Her respawning device was on the ground beside her too.

I gasped, then slowly got up and took a step back. I had killed Jayce for real.

With a heavy heart and a large knot in my throat, I wandered off and avoided that area for the rest of the match and managed to win just by a couple frags, dying myself once. Images from my past worked their way into my head...

_Pillowfights, men, makeovers..._

Though I just couldn't ignore one thought above them all; what if killing Jayce was for the better?


	13. Honour

Orion's Barricade, an ancient castle above an electrical storm. Not really the most delightful or cheery place to vacation, but oh well. I had heard Kyrss and Blake were in for a tan aswell.

Though I hope it isn't the Kryss or Blake I had beaten a couple months back, because we didn't really leave in the best of spirits.

I'd better be careful.

I spawned in and was immediately confronted with Azure, who wasn't too thrilled to see me. She quickly did a sideways flip in the air shooting at me, while I ducked and rolled to the side shooting at her. Enforcer to Enforcer. She managed to get a RL at some point but I took it from her in the cruelest and most gruesome way possible.

I made my way out of the catacombs part of the castle and outside, nearly falling into the strange lightning water below.

"Like the view?" a strangely familiar voice said from behind me.

"Uhm..." I started to turn around.

"Alow me to give you a closer look!" it said suddenly. I saw it coming and I fell flat on my stomach holding onto the edge of the cliff. The owner of the voice ran over me and I saw Blake stumble and fall into the lightning water below.

"Jerk..." I muttered under my breath as I got to my feet. I found another entrance and found my way to some sorta throne room, but there were no seats. Figures, so much fighting and no sitting down.

I leaned against a wooden support and waited for someone to waltz in. Sure enough, a necris chick came in with her own RL. _Kryss..._

"Well well..." she started "It's been a while, Kyla."

"Since I kicked your ass in Stalwart? Yeah, you're right. It has."

"Time to die Kyla." She raised her weapon.

"Ohh, I don't think so. Nuh-uh." I raised my RL and quickly got off a shot. She aimed for my head and fired but I ducked down and took splash damage. I managed to deprive her of a few toes.

"CRAP!" she yelled.

Suddenly Blake stumbled his way into the room. "Hello again Kyla. Did you honestly think I'd let you get on with your pathetic life without a rematch?"

"Did _you_ honestly think I would let _you_ kill her?" Kryss piped up. They both wanted a piece of me. I shrugged and got to my feet, then leaned against the wooden support once more to watch the sparks fly.

"Look Kryss, she got me on Oblivion with no respawning device..."

"And she got me in Stalwart with a respawning device in hand-to-hand combat!"

I sighed and watched them fight a little longer, curious when they would notice that I was still there. I couldn't help but smile.


	14. Dishonour

"Look here, Krissie, I ain't got time for your-"

"For what? You seem to have enough time to argue with me-"

"Uh, guys?" I piped in. They turned to look at me "Goodbye," I said smiling, and gave them a little wave before I plastered them both to the walls. They obviously didn't hear my rocket launcher loading the good six rockets I shot them with.

I quickly backed up to the wall behind me, not a good idea if I ever needed to run away from a fight and recouperate, but at least they can't sneak up behind me. Suddenly, a narrow nigh-invisible lift took me up to a sniper nest of sorts. Quickly grabbing the sniper rifle there and making my way back down, I managed to take off a couple people's heads, including Blake's, before I myself got fragged.

Figuring that tactic might not work twice, plus the main hall bit of the Barricade being the hotspot for people shooting at each other, well, I better get another gun. I respawned in what I guess you could call the underbelly of the arena, so I ran along and scooped up the first weapon I saw; a Minigun.

Vive le Minigun. 'Nuff said.

After that brief killing spree, though, it seemed that Kryss and Blake (though I don't see how THAT was possible, after hearing them argue earlier) decided to team up to try and kill me as many times as possible. After being fragged a few times by them I started using the RL more frequently.

Eventually, I cornered both of them. Out of the blue, they tore off their respawning devices and dropped their weapons and then raised their arms in the air. _What the hell, are they giving up on me?_

I lowered my rocket launcher for a second, caught entirely off guard. "... What're you guys trying to pull?" I inquired.

"I can't go back to my homeworld defeated, it isn't very honourable," replied Kryss. "It's either I die in the tourney or become champion, and it doesn't look like I'll be getting the latter when fighting a warrior such as yourself Kyla."

I blinked. A few times. Then glanced at Blake.

"Yeah, uh, what she said," he added. "It's either frag or be killed, and I don't think I'll be able to get the attention of chicks if I get my butt continuously kicked by one. No offense."

At least he made some degree of sense. I guess they were asking me to kill them because they couldn't deal with defeat. Kryss closed her eyes. Blake gritted his teeth. I raised by RL, and fired.

I don't know why I did it, but some part of me kind of pitied them I guess. If they were killed in the tournament then they didn't have to live with defeat, or, 'dishonour' in Kryss' case. But now they don't have to worry about dishonour anymore.


	15. Unwelcome reward

Kyla looked out of the window of the small helicopter at the arena. The final battle for the first trophy, the Deathmatch trophy. Kyla wanted that trophy, needed it. She needed victory now.

It was all she had left.

The arena itself was originally build by some Nipi monks and was called some long-forgotten name nobody could be bothered to pronounce, so everybody just called it 'Peak'. It was a monastery built around a mountain peak with winding wooden catwalks connecting every room and every platform. How the monks actually managed to get to the mountain top to build their monastery was beyond anyone who tried to find out, as it was build nearly five centuries ago when humans were still burning fossil fuels.

_Well, it's almost time_ thought Kyla.

She spawned in, telefragging Dovienya. _What the hell are those tourney guys doing? They could get someone killed like that._

_For real._

Kind of like Jayce, Blake, Kryss, and that one Phayder, she couldn't even recall his name. _What if they have family? Friends? How could I have been so ignorant?_

_Maybe I'm going soft._

Kyla finished first place again, though it wasn't a hard win it was hard on Kyla, because she was watching Dovienya's corpse being loaded onto a stretcher as a tournament administrator handed her the Deathmatch Trophy. Dovienya's respawning module had been damaged by gunfire and had malfunctionned. Kyla was the one to take Dovienya out. _It was an accident. I didn't mean to._

Kyla sat cross-legged on her bed back at the apartment, staring at her trophy. She would be interviewed by the press later, though Kyla had a really bad case of butterflies.

_Do I deserve this?_


	16. Evil twin?

"So, Boris, who's this Xan Kriegor guy?" I asked my teammate on the shuttle ride to the arena. Naturally, I had already read over the background info on every competitor for the match.

"He's the best of the best." Boris replied. "Ain't nobody ever beat him, and ain't nobody ever will."

"Does he have a face?"

"Naw, nobody's ever seen 'im without the suit. Some people say he ain't human."

"Hmm." _I wonder what he looks like underneath that mask of his..._

I had another teammate in the shuttle with us, a girl who was intent on staring out the window the entire trip.

"So, what's your story?" I asked her. There was nothing on the datapad about there being a third member of our team. She held her silence. I guess I should've felt ignored, but I shrugged it off. _We all have our reasons for the things we do..._

The shuttle slowed down and the trio were warped into the arena Condemned. The arena Condemned had a building in the middle with a command point at the top, and then alleyways all around to the other two command points. It looked like it was built in the 20th century with neon signs and all.

"Feels just like home." Boris murmured.

"Alright people, let's get to work." I ordered. "Boris, you go for Arturo's. And you..."

The third member of our little trio was looking away.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" I grabbed her by the shoulder. "Listen up you little-" And then she turned around. "My god." _She looks exactly like me._

Of course, I tried my best to keep my cool. "You, uh, you take the command point Garage. Got it?" My doppleganger nodded. "Alrighty, I've got the rooftop. Let's move out, people!"

My teammates nodded and headed off to their positions, while I grabbed my trusty minigun and it's respective ammunition. I then headed for the rooftop. We secured our points and defended them well, but not well enough. After only a few minutes in and our fair shares of respawns later, the Blue team had about 50 score. We had 80 with it slowly climbing from the one command point that we had.

I spoke into my radio. "Alright you two, both of you hold Arturo's. I've got this covered."

"Roger that, Red Leader." Boris replied. I then went and grabbed the anti-grav boots while under heavy fire and jumped onto the rooftop, landing right on the point. Our score was at 85 and climbing twice as fast now.

Harlin was guarding the command point. I had taken it before he had even noticed me. He turned around suddenly only to see me there. I lowered my weapon slightly.

"So, you know what it's like to lose a family too." I said. In Harlin's file it said that his family was killed in an NEG raid. He seemed confused.

Confused long enough for my team to win the match. A voice was heard over the intercom, saying that the Red team had won. It was strange. Harlin, looking like a rather tough guy, seemed a little sad that I had mentionned his loss. I went over to him and placed my hand on his shoulder, in an attempt to console him.

"Man, just try losing two of 'em."


	17. Old flings

"Okay guys, what's the scoop?" I asked my teammates. We were en route to Ghardhen, some testing facility now turned tournament battleground. Boris was with me again, and so was my doppleganger. We had a new member to our little group, Mariana, and she was the one to spill.

"Othello is a killer, he's taken part in bloody matches to the death since the mysterious demise of his wife." Mariana started.

"Matches to the death? Pfft." Boris jumped in.

"Matches without the aid of the new respawning technology." I replied. I had heard about such things.

"Oh." Boris said, then he seemed lost in what he should say next.

Mariana continued. "Azure has had training from the best fighters of the New Age and physical engineering to make her one bad bitch. Aryss was formerly a pilot, sounds to me like she's bitten off more than she could hope to chew joining the 'tourney. Malcom is the interresting one."

"Interresting? How?" I had to ask.

"The report said he was taking chemical enhancements to improve his natural abilities in battle." Mariana stated.

"Oh, drugs. Great." Boris moaned. "I have to go get killed by Xan Kriegor himself and I hafta fight all these sons-of-bitches on the way there. As if my sentence wasn't enough." He then muttered. "Damn you Liandri."

Mariana apparently heard him. "Don't get me started on the shit it's done to me, too. Greedy fucks don't want to let go of their money." Mariana turned to me. "What's it done to you?"

"Me? Well... My boyfriend in high school before was..." I paused, struggling to remember the name. _Has it already been a year?_ "... Kent. Haven't heard from him for over a year now."

"_Kent_? Kent _Liandri_?" Mariana asked.

"Yeah..." I managed. It was only a name now, whatever affection I felt towards the bearer of the name was either long gone or in hiding.

"Shit girl, not everyone gets to cozy up to the head honcho's _son_!" Mariana exclaimed. "Hey, next time you see him could you ask about _my_ family? I haven't seen them for over four years..."

"I just _said_ I haven't seen him in over a year!" I shouted, more to my own surprise than anyone else's. _Maybe I don't even remember what Kent looks like, but obviously I still have feelings for him_. "Just... Leave me alone on that subject, okay?" _... Is his name even Kent?_ "Look, when we get there, we'll prolly have about half an hour with the arena to ourselves. I say we see if we can't get some 'spawning devices from someone and practice a bit. Like Mariana said, we've really got to watch our asses in this match, and we can't be going in all wound up." I looked out the window of the hovercar. "We'll be arriving soon, I think."

_Maybe he still has feelings for me, too._


	18. Something in common

Everyone piled on the shuttle, tired and weary, except the clone and Kyla, who was in good spirits. She had managed to score 50 points for her team. As for Kyla's identical twin, well, no one knew what she was thinking. Who knew if she even thought?

"Great work, guys!" Kyla said to her team. "See? That wasn't so bad."

Boris and Marianna groaned in unison.

Kyla chuckled to herself, then sat back and amused herself thinking about her dopleganger. They were headed straight to the next match, Cryptic. It was made for a tournament Master Kilbragh, but when he died Liandri seized it for the Tournament.

_I wonder if she can do more than follow orders?_ Kyla thought. _Does she have her own family? Her own mind? Or is she really just a clone?_

They arrived at the arena shortly. Kyla and her team piled out of the transport, obviously in need of a little rest before battling again. Kyla was a little worn out herself, but she didn't let it show. Unfortunately for them, the blue team was completely rested and prepared.

Rylisa and Johnson were back, and fighting harder than before. Lauren decided which point she was going to hold, and held it she did, fighting off Boris and Marianna with ease. My doppleganger, the fact that we had just gotten here from another match not seeming to affect her, went after Rylisa and Johnson's point. The last point for me to siege was the Daemonhead.

Where Harlin was guarding.

As soon as we saw each other for the second time, he lowered his minigun and I followed suit. We did have something in common, after all. Not something either of us would _want_ to have in common, but something. We stood and stared at each other like that for a moment, sharing wordless pity and self-pity about our losses.

Then Boris came charging in. He wound up his machinegun and started firing at Harlin. Quickly noting how sloppy the oncoming barrage of rounds was, I got the hell out of the way. Harlin did the same, but behind a nearby ramp. Boris crouched next to me as he swapped to a rocket launcher.

"What the hell were you doing?" Boris shouted at me.

"Sorry, got a little distracted-"

"Blue's got ninety points! They're going to claim this match in a matter of seconds!"

That got me up and running. Harlin had gotten back to the point, and I ran and shoved him away from it, muttering a 'sorry' under my breath. My rage was pointless, however, as I hadn't slowed the inevitable by much. The intercom sparked to life, and said the words I could hardly bear to hear.

"_Blue team wins_."


	19. The other side of the coin

"Her team lost the match, you know," a male voice said, "You can't push her around anymore." He was a young man, probably about nineteen or twenty in age. He flicked his longish blonde hair out of his face, revealing his dark blue eyes.

"Who says I can't push her around, my son?" An older man sat infront of a cluttered desk, he took a sip of an unknown wine from an expensive crystal wineglass. "Kent, you've still got a lot to learn before you're ready to inherit my company, and one of those things is that you can't have sympathy for anyone when you expect people to pay to watch your work."

"But you can't do this!" Kent leapt up in a rage. He swiftly took his own wineglass from him and threw it at him, just missing his head and shattering against the wall behind him. The loss of the glass didn't phase Mr. Liandri, he had more than enough money to buy another one.

"Son, I already have," Mr. Liandri said. "In the buisness world you've got to be ruthless-"

"And you expect torturing her will get you more publicity?" Kent inquired.

"It will," Liandri continued. "And it already has. Look at the reviews, the ratings!"

"But the people-"

"People love to watch other people suffer. It's all part of being human."

Kent gritted his teeth. "You're sick."

"That's not what the fans are saying." Liandri's own dark blue eyes looked over at his son calmly.

"It's what I'm saying, and I think you're a fucking madman. I can't forgive what you did to..."

"That wasn't well thought out, I admit. I expected her to put up more of a fight."

"And now, this... creation of yours. The hell were you thinking?"

"Don't you have a match soon?"

Kent looked at his father angrily, got up and went to leave. He stopped in the doorway. "Just so you know, I am ashamed to call you father."

Kent slammed the door as he left to signify is rage. However, this did not phase his father. Mr. Liandri picked up his wineglass and held it to his lips, a malicious smirk crossing his face.

"Don't be angry with me, you'll see her again soon enough, my son," he muttered.


	20. Second chances

_I lost? I can't believe I lost... How could I lose? I was on top, and then..._ My thoughts swirled around in my head as I packed my things. This was the tournament. Once you lost there was no coming back. No second chances.

I tried to calm myself by thinking of other things, thoughts of my foster parents. My little brother's twelfth birthday. I smiled and it made packing easier, remembering how much fun I had that day. He loved my gift the most of all; the holo-recorder and the concert tickets to see his favourite band. I had done extra chores in secret and bummed some money from Jayce. _I can't wait to see them again..._

Thinking about my foster family made me happy, but thoughts of my real family made me happier. My older brother off to college on Marandus prime. I was only six then, and I was sad to see him go but I was proud of him too. He came back three years later a seasoned pro of... I forget; something scientific anyway. He showed me lots of neat things, like how under certain conditions Tarydium would form with a purple or red colour instead of it's normal cyan blue.

Then I remembered that he was shredded by a minigun not too different from the gun I favoured in the tournament. And my foster parents? Same deal, only I was lucky enough to not be there the second time my family was killed.

It's funny, I'm thinking about how I've endured the very same emotional torture twice over, losing two loving families, and I'm not crying. I don't feel sad even, well, I don't feel anything really. All I'm left with is a blank slate. I know I loved both sets of parents and both brothers very much... Maybe I'm still in shock or something, even after all this time.

I thought I got a second chance when I started my new life on Earth, with my foster family. But I guess not. No second chances in life; just like there's no second chances in the tournament.

Just then, someone knocked on my door and slid a pad underneath. I paused packing to walk over and pick it up. _It's... It's the info on my next match... starting tomorrow night._

_But... why do I get a second chance?_


End file.
